February 26, 2014

A scam resurfaced this week in which callers claiming to be Tarrant County court officials tell people that they failed to report for jury duty and have to pay a fine over the phone.

It's bogus, according to bailiff Paula Morales, who has worked with juries for 20 years.

“People are told: ‘Give us a credit card number. We’ll take care of it over the phone and we’ll be done,’” Morales said. “But people get scared. They think, ‘It’s the government’ and think, ‘Oh, my gosh. I just want it taken care of.’ ”

August 02, 2011

Marcus Meehan of Texas knew that a Delaware senior citizen was a quadriplegic able to communicate only with computer assistance. That didn't stop him from bilking the man out of about $200,000 in a rare coin scam, the Delaware attorney general says. Working for a Port Arthur, Texas, company called Texas Eagle Reserve, Meehan sold the man the coins at grossly inflated prices, and he pleaded guilty to theft. According to a broadcast report, the prosecutor told that court that Meehan said in his confession that he was taught how to lie, manipulate and pray with his clients over the phone so they would trust him. Take a look at the kind of guy who would do this, from a photo in the Delaware News Journal. Now, imagine him in prison for the next three years. The judge also told him to repay the victim.

July 28, 2011

A fraudulent investment scheme allowed a 69-year-old Plano ex-con and his two sons to live the good life. They had luxury vehicles, owned a Picasso, expensive jewelry and wine, boats, jade and antiques. They won't be enjoying them much from their new location, in federal prison. U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks announced Thursday that father William Anthony Rand, was sentenced to five and one-half years in prison, and sons Gregory Keith Rand, 46, and William Nicholas Rand, 41, both of Dallas, had been sentenced to 18 years and 14 years, respectively. They also ordered to pay $99.7 million in restitution and to forfeit other ill-gotten property. Another son, Mark Albert Rand, 45, of Plano is awaiting sentencing, as is another man, Joel William Petersen, 44, of Frisco. Operating Aspen Exploration, the managing partner of oil and gas well programs, among other things the men forgot to tell investors some pertinent details, such as the elder Rand's Arkansas convictions for bank fraud and money laundering and his previous time in federal prison.

July 24, 2011

Maritza De Leon, a long-time Texas Department of Public Safety employee, took $10,000 to help a man posing as a Mexican drug cartel leader get a driver license.Turns out, the man was an FBI informant and helped police bust a driver license selling ring, The Monitor reported Friday. Last week in McAllen, De Leon, who told a judge she had sold fake driver licenses at least 15 times since 2003, was sentenced to 60 days in prison and two years of probation. To the judge's frustration, federal sentencing guidelines for most of the ring members call for less than 6 months behind bars.

July 18, 2011

No one seems to have a corner on dishonesty. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, property appraisers, title company attorneys, property flippers and escrow officers were among 40 people who conspired to get loans on properties with inflated values, prosecutors say. The scheme worked for a while. They got homes in Arlington, Fort Worth, Keller, Roanoke, Southlake and other cities, according to an indictment. So far, 37 people have pleaded guilty. Last week, a jury convicted two other North Texas women - loan officers who falsified loan applications. Each faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The final defendant goes to trial this fall.

September 07, 2010

The answer to both is no, according to the FBI in its report on a scam uncovered in which a group of alleged con artists in Los Angeles created a fake relative, phony documents and a bogus funeral -- complete with actors posing as mourners -- in order to scam insurance companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

October 21, 2009

The feds have seized a $7 million building in Brooklyn, alleging it was the home of an investment scheme by three men who actually invoked the name of Cowboys great Roger Staubach to dupe their clients, according to reports.

The three men told investors that Staubach and entertainer Gloria Estefan were on their advisory board. They weren't.

Prosecutors say the men stole about $6 million from investors in the bogus businesses, one of which advertised that it represented the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea and Seal. It didn't.

November 17, 2008

The Nigerian e-mail scam has been around for years, and most of us know not to fall for it.

You know the one where someone promises you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you'll only send them $1,000 to help free up the money. Sometimes its a businessman. Sometimes it's a prince who's trying to flee his homeland. But every time, it's a scam.

Well, a woman in Oregon is out about $400,000 after falling for the scam. Reportedly she kept sending money even after family and bank officials told her it was a scam, because she was obsessed with getting the payoff.

She mortgaged the house, borrowed against the family car and looted her husband's retirement account, according to reports